ESL students share their holiday traditions

MIDDLETOWN - English as a Second Language (ESL) students worked together to share their holiday traditions with other Middlesex Community College students Wednesday.

Students gathered in Founders Hall on the McCC campus to celebrate the sixth annual International Holidays event, which is put on every year by the ESL department and one of its professors, May Coryell.

Coryell is just happy to be there and celebrate this event.

This past spring, she was in auto accident. She had left her last class of the night 10 minutes before and was hit by another car near Haborpark in a head-on collision. Three cars were involved in the accident that killed one of the drivers.

Coryell is lucky to be alive. She shattered her right ankle and her left femur in the accident.

Now, Coryell is in a wheelchair and going to physical therapy to learn how to walk again. These injuries did not stop her from returning to teaching part-time and spearheading the International Holiday event.

"I couldn't sit home all day and watch television," Coryell said.

The event is a way for people from different cultures to show how they celebrate holidays in their country of origin. The students set up

displays for each of

their holidays. Many students cooked food traditionally eaten on that day.

Several of the students showed off holidays that are special to them and that are less celebrated in the United States.

Titi Hoang has been one of Coryell's students for the past

two semesters. Hoang is from Vietnam, and she celebrates the Vietnamese New Year, Tet. It is the abbreviation of Tet Nguyen Dan, which means the first morning of the first day of the new period. The holiday marks the beginning of spring and the New Year on the lunar calendar.

According to Hoang, Tet is very similar to the Chinese New Year. It is a three-day celebration where people dress up in their best clothes and spend time with their family eating and playing games.

Another of the holidays showcased was the Islamic

holiday of Ramadan, celebrated by two of the students - Ozlem from Turkey and Moussa from Senegal. Ozlem discussed how those who celebrate Ramdan fast from sun up to sun down. Sexual intercourse and smoking are also not allowed during this time.

According to Moussa, "fasting is very healthy for

the body." He added that the meaning of the holiday is to always share with those who are hungry and thirsty.

Moussa said on the final day of Ramadan, there is a giant celebration and a lamb is sacrificed.

Coryell was overwhelmed by her students' performances.

"I am very proud of my students," she said. "I have the best students on campus."

She discussed how she "feels like a mother" and they are "her children," even if they are her age or older than her.

In the spring, the ESL students will create displays

of their countries for International Day.

To contact Joseph Wenzel IV, call him at (860) 347-3331, ext. 222, or e-mail him at jwenzel@middletownpress.com.